Elegy Chapter Eight: A Treatise on the Kilrathi Language and Kilrathi Lexicon
Introduction Sounds It is difficult to accurately describe the sounds of the Kilrathi language without using complex anatomical and phonological terms. What follows, therefore, is intended to give only a guide to pronunciation. Very few non-Kilrathi speak the language without at least a hint of an accent, and most stumble over minor nuances of the language. For example, most Terrans usually ignore the subtle "h" sound that appears in many Kilrathi words, though its presence or absence may vary the meaning of the word take for example: kar = dark khar = shadow kahr = heart A Terran would likely pronounce all three in the exact same manner; a Kilrathi would not. This "palatial lisp", where the mid-section of the tongue comes in contact with the soft palate, is often noted by native Kilrathi speakers when listening to Terrans struggling with their language. Finally, written Kilrathi has traditionally been transliterated into a number of different writing systems based upon who has been doing the translating. For this guide, the system developed by Ches M. Penney will be utilized; the editiors of this guide are of the opinion that Capt. Penney's system of writing Kilrathi is best suited for people who already know how to read English and will result in a minimum amount of difficulty approximating the sounds of Kilrathi words and sentences. This system incorporates the following set of rules: *The letter "C" will not appear in this dictionary, though certain translations have been rendered with a "C" in the past. "S" and "K" will appear in place of "C" as necessary. "C" will appear as part of "CH", which is always pronounced as in "chew", never as in "Bach". *G is always pronounced hard (as in "gut", never as in "gerbil"). *H is an exceptionally important sound in Kilrathi, pronounced hard but also used occasionally to add a soft "sigh" to many ideas and in the process change their meaning. An "H" appearing in the center of modifier ALWAYS indicates that the idea involved applies to a sapient being - but its absence does not necessarily imply the opposite. *J is always pronounced hard (as in "jet", never as in German "ja"). *Q will be utilized only for overtly hard usages of the "K" sound. It never represents "qw" as is common in most English words, except in the case of qu = unless (which cannot be pronounced any other way, naturally). *Y always represents the consonant sound - it never serves as a vowel. *X functions as the -ks sound when appearing anywhere in a word other than at the beginning; it is pronounced as a "Z" when appearing at the beginning of a word. Any vowel preceding the X is always pronounced short. X has a special function in the Kilrathi language, that of a "corruptive concept indicator", which will be discussed later in this guide. Vowel sounds are as follows: *A represents either a short "A" sound (as in "bat") or a sound approaching a short "O" sound (as in "caw"), depending on what consonant sounds accompany it. *E is always short if it is the first sound in its idea, aleays representative of a long "A" sound if located at the end of a word, and always long "E" anywhere else. For example in mekh (measure of speed), the E appears at the beginning of its idea (ekh = speed), thus the word is properly pronounced like "mech", not "meek". *I, except when proceeded by A, carries a long E sound; when proceeded by A, it carries the long I sound. The AI combination is the only vowel combination allowed in the Kilrathi language. It is also the vowel that undergoes metathesis in the language, and that only when proceeded by A and followed by Y: aiy = visible / seen (pronounced "YEE") *O may either be pronounced long or short, though when by itself it is most commonly pronounced long. It is generally short if it appears at the beginning of its idea. When followed by R, it makes the OR sound as usual. *U is always pronounced long, carrying the OO sound. Grammatical Sketch In a brief guide such as this, it is not possible to describe Kilrathi grammar succinctly, particularly given the lack of data on a number of every day concepts; work on deciphering these concepts is ongoing. What follows then may only be considered a sketch or outline of the Kilrathi language as it iis understood by Terrankind to date. Although a good many of the fine points are not covered, the sketch will allow the student of Kilrathi to muddle through what a Kilrathi may or may not be saying and respond in an intelligible, though perhaps somewhat brutish, manner. It is likely that only those Kilrathi who have spent their lives in and around the Thrak'hra class will be able to tell the difference. Nouns There are various types of nouns in Kilrathi. Simple nouns are single ideas, such as: ka = blood / spirit hu = thing Complex nouns may be made up of several ideas, much like English. For example: daig = school (a combination of da = hall + ig = to learn) brajakh = fortress / community (br'-'' = defend / protect + ''aj = plan / design + akh = water /drink/ taste) Another type of complex noun consists of a verb followed by one of three "doing" suffixes: ''-il'' = "creature that does" ''-al'' = "thing that does" ''-a'' = "being that does" Thus producing words such as: traggil = "creature that struggles with a trap" (tr'-'' = battle / struggle + ''agg = trap / snare + ''-il'' = creature that does ratha = "a being that dominates" (rath = question / dominate + ''-a'' = being that does) Verbs Pronouns The Kilrathi language utilizes the following set of pronouns: There is no grammatical gender in Kilrathi; third-person singular pronouns may be translated based on the context of the sentence. Pronouns may be used as nouns for emphasis or added clarity, but they are by no means required; indeed, given the imperative nature of the language, pronouns as subjects are encountered very rarely. Pronouns can be affixed to other words as a primary prefix, thus indicating ownership. For example: ek'lakh = our ancestors ri'rakh = your honor It is more common to see the prefix form utilized than the separate possessive form; usually the separate possessive form occurs in archaic forms of the language. For example: Kir'kha n'ikh rakh k'har, Sharhi nar Hhallas = "I, Sharhi of Hhallas, swear to avenge my honor". This sentence also serves as an example of a missing pronoun ("I") in the subject of the sentence. Vowels may also be dropped from the possessive prefix form, as in: n'hakh ri'kahri = "destruction" (literally "I must taste your hearts") Finally, pronouns can be used as possessives in their own right: Mas nai'ha = "That is mine." Numbers The use of base-eight mathematics is a well-known aspect of Kilrathi culture and society. Lately there has been an effort by a few groups of remaining Kilrathi to convert over to base-ten mathematics (as a means of better understanding Terran culture), but for the most part, Kilrathi are well content to continue to utilize a system that has worked extremely well for them for milennia. Kilrathi numbers are as follows: †Eight is rendered in some sources as "oc". For zero, Kilrathi use kn'-'' ("void / nothing") The series for the numbers nine through sixteen is unique, as follows: The unique forms ''nove, du and especially du'de are believed to be cultural in origin, with du'de functioning much as the number thirteen in Terran circles (i.e. as a number indicating bad fortune). Higher numbers are formed by adding base set of numbers as a prefix to the eight-number form. Thus: unideok = seventeen (one and two eights, 21) dedeok = eighteen (two and two eights, 22) treok = twenty-four (three eights, 30) kesok = thirty-two (four eights, 40) And so forth. Likewise, the same goes for the ordinal set - unidezo'ar = seventeenth dedezo'ar = eighteenth trezo'ar = twenty-fourth keszo'ar = thirty-second And so forth. Numbers of higher orders of magnitude use the following set of suffixes: †Again, it is not uncommon to see ok rendered as oc in many sources - in particular, octo is used heavily (as opposed to okto) in most Terran renderings. It is not known if the Kilrathi have larger number sets or not. Infinity is rendered simply as ga (all). Numbers are generally used as nouns, though they may also serve as a modifier to other nouns. When used as a modifier, they serve as a prefix - thus words like: zarmak = "sixty-fourth measure of distance" oktogramma = "thousand weight measures" Fractions in Kilrathi are generally spoken literally, with the cardinal form of the numerator spoken prior to the ordinal form of the denominator - thus the following examples: uni'dar = "one seconds" tre'k'ar = "three fourths" Where the number "one" is the numerator, the un is sometimes dropped, resulting in the following special forms: idar = "half" itar = "third" ikar = "quarter" Finally, for octal renderings (i.e. decimals), the word in is utilized in a manner similar to the word "point" in English; this is always done independently. For example: nove'okko in detreok = "seventy-three point twenty-six" (this translation accounts for the base-8/base-10 difference) Adding du ("again") as a suffix to a cardinal number gives the notion of repetitions: unidu = "once" tredu = "thrice" du'dedu = "twelve times" Du may be added to these repetition indicators to indicate its normal function as "again", though it is always a separated concept in that case: unidu'du = "once again" #Conjunctions #Adverbs Exclamations These expressions stand as sentences in their own right: hagai = "yes" (declarative affirmative, literally "It must") va = "not/no" (declarative negative) *Let's go! *Hurry up! h'asni = "I will" h'asnav = "I refuse" (literally "I will not") *Good! (expression of praise/satifaction) *Excellent! (expression of intense satifaction) *Well done! (endorsement of an achievement). *(expression of greeting) *(expression of departure) *Done! (expression of completion of a task) aj'k = "ready!" (a clipping of ni'ha krikajjk, an expression of a state of preparation) nayi = "so!" (expression of understanding, realization, invention or recognition - literally "I see"). Annoyance and anger is commonly expressed via snarling, with the volume and length of the snarl proportional to the degree of annoyance. Curse words phrases are also included as exclamatory expressions in their own right. Known Kilrathi examples are: har = "shit/feces" j'ak = "piss" (literally "yellow water" - also the source of the epithet jaka'in = "little pisser") vrax = "fuck" vraxar = "fuck me" (literally "fuck first", with ar (first) serving as a euphemism for the subject's reproductive organs) aviar = "cunt" (a clipped form of kilaviar, which literally translated as "female's first") !!! = "cocksucker" (literally "sucker of first") vraxa'nah = "mother fucker" vih'ks = "tits/breasts" (a clipped form of kilavih'ks, literally "female's six") sharvath = "do not kill my biggest enemy" (literally "first foe no death") kass'richak = (literally "blood/spirit + !!! + your + striking") #Syntax #Kilrathi/English Lexicon Table #English/Kilrathi Lexicon Table